One
of the very few things of merit not likely to be under-estimated in
these degenerate days is gold. Indeed, it is like a favorable telegram,
which is taken for all it is worth, and a little more. It is so long now
since gold has been used in America as a circulating medium, that people
are beginning to view coins made of this material as curiosities; and
industrious students are writing up the history of gold as one of the
things of the past.

It
is believed that at the date of the discovery of America, the stock of
gold coin in Europe amounted to a value of only $150,000,000. It is
estimated that from the seventh century to the fourteenth century the
entire production of all the mines of Europe did not exceed $500,000 per
year. The opening of the mines of Russia, which began to yield gold in
1704, made a considerable addition to the amount, and in the latter part
of the eighteenth century the annual European production of gold had
reached the amount of $1,000,000.

The
first large quantity of gold from America was shipped in 1502, and
amounted to $350,000. The annual produce of gold in America, from 1492
to 1519, is stated by Humboldt to have been $250,000. Cortez made his
expedition to Mexico in 1519, and his invading army did not neglect to
treasure of the country. The art of mining in Mexico had already made
some progress, and after its conquest, the unhappy natives were forced
to slave to enrich the victors. Twenty years later, the conquest of
Peru, by Pizarro, added another and still richer gold-producing country
to the world. Here it was found that mining operations had been
conducted with much greater skill, and consequently better success.
Meanwhile, Chile, in the hands of the Spaniards, and Brazil, in those of
the Portuguese, were beginning to add their share to the gold of the
world. The annual supply from the Western Continent reached, in 1546,
the sum of $10,000,000, and, in the year 1600, the stock of gold in the
world amounted to five times what it was in 1492. During the seventeenth
century the product of the American mines gradually increased. In Peru,
other mines were opened, and in Buenos Aires, new ones were discovered.
The amount of coined money at the end of the seventeenth century
amounted to $1,900,000,000. During the next century the large mines of
Mexico had increased in productiveness, and fortunes were made by those
fortunate enough to own shares in them. From 1700 to 1810 the product of
American mines amounted to $4,000,000,000.

But
during the twenty years immediately succeeding the year 1809, the
American mines decreased greatly in productiveness. The political
troubles in Mexico ad broken out in a civil war, and in consequence the
mines were deserted, their works destroyed, and the supply of gold at
once fell to less than one-fifth the usual amount. The same influence
operated in Peru with the same results, and the whole produce of America
during these twenty years was very much reduced. In 1824, some gold was
discovered in North Carolina, and, a few years after, some was found in
Virginia; Georgia and South Carolina also yielded small amounts; but
these had little influence on the general result. The consumption of
gold in England per annum, for other purposes than coinage, was
estimated fifty years ago to amount to nearly $10,000,000. The amount
used on the continent of Europe was about $20,000,000. In 1835, the
estimated amount of coin in existence was $1,500,000,000.

The
recent discoveries of gold–in California in 1848, in Australia in
1851, at Frazer’s River in British Columbia in 1858, In Nova Scotia on
the upper waters of the Tangier river in 1860–have wonderfully added
to the wealth of the world. The total amount of gold coin and bullion in
the world was estimated in 1847 to be $3,000,000,000. For the following
ten years, the yield of the mines of California amounted to about
$500,000,000. The total value of the gold discoveries of Australia from
1851 to 1859 amounted to $500,000,000. These mines are annually
increasing in value, and new discoveries are constantly making. In spite
of the present rarity of coin in circulation in this country, we may be
sure that, though much has gone abroad, none has been lost, and there
may possibly be a time in the future when gold and silver will be once
more used as a circulating medium in America.

Convention
of North Carolina Troops.

Orange
Courthouse, Va., Aug.
12.–A convention of North Carolina troops in the army of
Northern Virginia met at the courthouse here to-day, and organized by
appointing Col. Bryant Grimes Chairman, nine Secretaries and a committee
of nine–one from each brigade–resolutions and arrangements. Col.
Garrett was chairman of the committee. Resolutions were unanimously
adopted pledging the fealty of the North Carolina army to the
Confederacy; denouncing the Raleigh Standard
and its supporters; expressing confidence that Gov. Vance will sustain
the good course, and appointing Cols. Garrett, Jones, Cox and Grimes a
committee to write an address to the people of the State. The convention
was enthusiastic and unanimous.1

•••••

Carrying
“The Flag” Into the North.—Among the paroled prisoners
who have reached Richmond from the last flag of truce boat, is C. S.
Clancy, color-bearer of the 1st Louisiana regiment, who
was taken prisoner in the battle of the 2nd of July, at Gettysburg,
while bearing his colors up to the very front of the enemy's
breastworks, amid a perfect tornado of shell and bullets. Finding
himself cut off from escape, and certain to be either killed or
captured, Clancy tore his already bullet-torn flag from its staff, and
secured it underneath his shirt. He was taken prisoner, and carried to
Fort McHenry, Baltimore, and from thence sent to Fort Delaware, carrying
his flag with him, not floating to the breeze, of course, but furled
beneath his shirt. Clancy kept his own secret while in the fort, and
when the sick and wounded prisoners were selected to be sent Southward,
he feigned extreme illness, and was put on board the steamer, with a
number of others, still holding fast to his regimental colors, which he
brought safely away, and exhibited in this city yesterday. The flag
bears the perforations of upwards of two hundred bullets and one shell,
and the piece of another, passed through it in the fight at Gettysburg.
Clancy is the sixth color bearer of the regiment, five having fallen in
battle, with the identical flag in their grasp. The sixth, Clancy, has
carried the flag for nearly a year, and he certainly can claim to have
carried it farther into the North than the Confederate flag has ever yet
been advanced, and, what is better, back again in triumph.–Richmond
Examiner.

•••••

To
Prevent “Pitting” in Small-Pox.—A Scotch
physician–Dr. Smart–has announced an invention which, he asserts,
has never failed in his practice to prevent the disfigurement consequent
in small-pox known as “pitting.” The application consists of a
solution of india-rubber in chloroform, which is painted over the face
(and neck in women) when the eruption has become fully developed. When
the chloroform has evaporated, which it readily does, there is left a
thin elastic film of india-rubber over the face. This the patient feels
to be rather comfortable than otherwise, inasmuch as the disagreeable
itchiness, so generally complained of, is almost entirely removed, and,
what is more important, “pitting,” once so common, and even now far
from rare, is thoroughly prevented whenever the solution has been
applied.

•••••

Valuable
Acquisition.—The Confederate States Medical Department at
Charlotte, N. C., received last week one of the most valuable cargoes of
drugs from London that has ever been received in the Confederacy since
the commencement of the war. In the lot are 200 cases of amputating
instruments. The medicines are of the most superior quality. These drugs
were bought in London by our Government and brought over at its own
risk.

MONDAYAUGUST 24,
1863THE
MACON DAILY TELEGRAPH (GA)

Mississippi
Arming.

A
correspondent, who was present at the late public meeting at Enterprise,
Miss., writes to the Mississippian
that “the people of East Mississippi are re-kindling afresh the fires
of liberty on the altar of the country. Meetings are taking place here
and there, with the best results. On the 13th, a mass meeting was held
at Enterprise, Miss., and passed off in splendid style. Hon. J. J.
McRae, J. W. C. Watson, an eminent lawyer of Holly Springs, Hon. E.
Barksdale, and Senator Phelan, were present and made speeches. A
preamble and some telling resolutions were passed unanimously, which are
bound to have some effect in rousing us to action. The speeches were
superb, and left an impression upon the hearts of the multitude that
cannot be obliterated.

“The
speech of the ex-Governor was good, and well received. Mr. Watson’s
speech was a happy effort, eliciting cheer after cheer. He spoke of
having been a prisoner in a Federal guard house, and had the opportunity
of reading the leading papers of the North, and he informed us that we
had no adequate conception of the growing divisions and disaffections of
the people in the North. They were, he said, hopelessly divided, and
that an intestine war would rage in their midst, ere many months. He
gave speculators and extortioners some telling and healthy blows.

“As
to the starvation process of the Federals, he said they were getting
hopeless on that subject. He said some Federal prisoners were coming
down the Mobile railroad, and the cars halted at Egypt station. One of
the Federals walked out on one side of the platform, and glancing over
the fields of corn that stretched far away in the distance like a young
forest, then going to the other side, and behold, for miles and miles
the waving corn greeted his eyes. He stood silent, dumb-founded, dropped
his head, and as if the last lingering hope was gone, exclaimed,
‘Starve Hell!'2

“The
Hon. E. Barksdale followed Mr. Watson in a stirring and eloquent speech;
and as he urged us to action and sacrifices for the common good, we
thought of that noble, brave and heroic brother, who had just offered up
his life and poured out his blood as a fresh libation on the altar of
liberty, and we gloried in the fact that we had such noble men, the very
impersonation of patriotism, among us.3

“The
crowning speech of the day, however, was from Senator Phelan. It was a
glorious speech! Can you, Mr. Editor, print thunder, the scorching
lightning’s bolt? Can you print the storm, and then the placid sky? If
such a thing could be done, then we might hope to take down the speech
of the Senator’s.

“It
was brim full of solid logic, it abounded in burning, red hot thoughts,
that stirred [the] soul to its profoundest depths; it was running over
with bitter sarcasm and sparkling humor; and at times rising to the
sublimest flights of eloquence.

“Well,
sir, we have rekindled our fires; we have flung out our banners as if
the contest had just begun; the tocsin of war peals clearer and louder
than ever, and Mississippi is girding herself with armor as she has
never done before.

“To
arms, is the cry! Read the resolutions passed; action! nothing but
action! from this time forward. The watchword, Liberty or Death, is
uttered with a deeper significance.

“From
this hour count fully upon Mississippi; the ball is in motion, and let
us see who will take the advance of gallant Mississippians.”

The
Mississippian, referring to
the foregoing, says that “all the accounts we hear from Mississippi
are to the same tenor. Our very blood boils with gratitude and sympathy
when we read these glowing accounts from our glorious mother State. We
know what the stirring of Mississippi means. We know that when their
blood is up they are not very tame customers. In the hour of deep gloom
and heavy depression a few of her citizens may have wavered for a
moment; but, thank God, they have rallied again, and now there is only
one sentiment among them. Her heroes in distant fields, who have won
immortal honor, will never have occasion to blush for the State. She
will maintain her proud position to the last. Three long, loud and
hearty cheers for Mississippi!”

Feeling in the Army.

A
gentleman of Fayetteville has received a letter from his son in Gen.
Lee’s army, in which he expresses surprise and indignation at the
existence of any feeling like despondency, which he ash heard exists to
some extent in North Carolina. He says:

“This
is all wrong. You do not find it in the army, which is just as confident
as it ever was, and the fear of being overpowered or subjugated has not
once presented itself to the men of this army. They are the men who do
the fighting and bear the brunt of the war, and if they think themselves
competent to the undertaking, why should those who are sitting off in
the shade and comparatively uninterested in the contest, why should they
set up the hue and cry, ‘we are whipped; we had better make peace on
any terms,’ and such like erroneous and injurious statements.”

He
goes on to speak of the tendency of such feelings at home to dispirit
the soldiers, promote desertions, and keep the new conscripts from doing
their duty. The war, he says, cannot, and will not, stop short of the
independence of the Confederacy.

•••••

By
Telegraph.

Charleston,
August 22.–From 5 a.m.
until 7 p.m.
yesterday the enemy’s fire on Sumter was very heavy. Nine hundred and
twenty-three shots were fired. Seven hundred and four struck the Fort,
either outside or inside. The Eastern face was badly battered. Some guns
on the East and North-east face were disabled. The flag was shot down
four times. Five privates and two Negroes were wounded in Sumter.

The
enemy’s fire on Wagner caused five casualties, including Captain
Robert Pringle killed.

Our
sharpshooters are annoying the Yankees considerably.

It
is supposed the enemy burst one of their guns yesterday afternoon.

At
eleven o’clock last night a communication from the enemy, unsigned,
was sent to General Beauregard, demanding the surrender of Fort Sumter
and the Morris Island batteries, with a notification that the city would
be shelled in four hours if not complied with. Gen. Beauregard was on
reconnoisance. Adj. Gen. Jordan returned it for the signature of the
writer.

About
two o’clock this morning the enemy began throwing shell into the city
from their battery in the marsh, between Morris and James Islands,
distant about four miles from the city. Twelve 8-inch Parrott shells
fell in the city. No casualties took place. The transaction is regarded
as an outrage on civilized warfare.

The
shelling had a good effect on hastening the exodus of non-combatants.

At
day light this morning the enemy opened vigorously on Sumter. The Ironsides
has since opened. Sumter replying. Wagner is firing briskly on the
enemy’s advanced works, four hundred and fifty yards from our
batteries.

TUESDAYAUGUST 25, 1863LOWELL
DAILY CITIZEN & NEWS (MA)

The Siege of Charleston.

The
following interesting dispatch has been received from Admiral Dahlgren:

Flag-Ship
Dinsmore,
Off Morris Island, Aug. 18th, 1863.

To
Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy–Sir: Yesterday was begun
another series of operations against the enemy’s works.

Early
in the morning Gen. Gilmore opened all his batteries upon Fort Sumter,
firing over Fort Wagner and the intermediate space. About the same time
I moved up the entire available naval force, leading with my flag in the
Weehawken, followed by the Catskill,
Nahant and Montauk, the Passaic and Patapsco
in reserve for Sumter, and the Ironsides in position opposite Fort
Wagner, and the gunboats named in the margin at long range, viz: Canandaigua,
J. F. Green; Mahaska, J. B.
Creighton; Cameron, A. K.
Hugis; Ottawa, J. L. Davis; Darling,
J. L. Chaplin; Londono,
Broadhead.

As
the tide closed the Weehawken
was closed to about 450 yards of Wagner, the other three monitors
followed, and the Ironsides was taken as near as the great draft of
water would permit.

After
a steady and well-directed fire, Wagner was silenced about 9:30 a.m.,
and that of our own vessels was slackened in consequence.

In
the meanwhile the fire of our shore batteries was working effectually
upon the gorge of Sumter, which appeared to have been strengthened in
every possible manner.

At
this time the flag was shifted to Passaic,
which, with Patapsco, both
having rifled guns, steamed up the channel until within 2000 yards of
Fort Sumter, when fire was opened on the gorge angle and southeast point
of the work.

The
Patapsco fired very well and
is believed to have struck the southeast front nine consecutive times.
To all this Sumter scarcely replied. Wagner was silenced, and Battery
Gregg alone maintained a deliberate fire at the Passaic
and Patapsco.

It
was now noon, the men had been hard at work since daybreak and needed
rest, so I withdrew the vessels to give them dinner.

During
the afternoon our shore batteries continued the fire at Sumter with
little or no reply from the enemy, and I contented myself with sending
up the Passaic and Patapsco to prevent Wagner from repairing damages. The fort replied
briskly, but in a short time left off firing. I am not able to state
with exactness the result of the day’s work, but am well satisfied
with what a distant view of Sumter allowed me.

Our
entire power is not yet developed, as it will be daily, while the enemy
is damaged without being able to repair.

The
officers and men of the vessels have done their duty well and will
continue to do so.

All
went well with us save one sad exception. Captain Rodgers, my chief of
staff, was killed, as well as Paymaster Woodbury, who was standing near
him. Captain Rodgers had more than once asked on this occasion if he
should go with me as usual of resume the command of his vessel, the Catskill, and he repeated the query twice during the morning, the
last time on the deck of the Weehawken,
while preparing to move in to action. In each instance I replied: “Do
as you chose.” He finally said: “Well, I will go in the Catskill, and the next time with you.”

The
Weehawken was lying about 1000
yards from Wagner, and the Catskill,
with my gallant friend, just inside of me, the fire of the fort coming
in steadily. Observing the tide to have risen a little I directed the
Weehawken to be carried closer, and the anchor was hardly weighed when I
noticed the Catskill was also
under way, which I remarked to Capt. Calhoun. It occurred to me that
Capt. Rodgers detected the movement of the Weehawken,
and was determined to be closer to the enemy if possible. ->

My
attention was called off immediately to a position for the Weehawken; and soon after it was reported that the Catskill
was going out of action, with a signal flying that her captain was
disabled. He had been killed instantly. It is but natural that I should
feel deeply the loss thus sustained, for the close and confidential
relations which the duties of the fleet captain necessarily occasioned,
impressed me deeply with the worth of Capt. Rodgers.

Brave,
intelligent, and highly capable, devoted to his duty and to the flag
under which he passed his life, the country cannot afford to lose such
men. Of a kind and generous nature, he was always prompt to give relief
when he could. I have directed that all respect be paid his remains, and
the country will not, I am sure, omit to honor the memory of one who has
not spared his life in her hour of trial.

Col.
Burke, of Gen. Rosecrans’ army, reached Cincinnati on Thursday last,
and says . . . that Pemberton’s Vicksburg army has gone to pieces. The
Texans left in a body for home, and the Tennesseeans and Alabamians were
leaving it in numberless squads. Over ten thousand Tennesseeans have
reported to the provost marshal of the Army of the Cumberland, as
deserters from the rebels, having all come into our lines since Gen.
Rosecrans’ advance on Tullahoma.

The
suggestion of General Spinola that the troops in North Carolina wear
straw hats has been carried out to a certain extent. The Massachusetts
23d have received a supply. Each hat is bound with blue galloon, and
sports a blue ribbon one inch wide with the figures 23 in gold painted
thereon, making a very neat appearance. They were manufactured by the
young ladies at the Union Straw Works in Foxborough.

General
Sickles, who lost his right leg at Gettysburg, is stopping at the Fort
William Henry Hotel, Lake George. He moves about easily on crutches, and
is in excellent spirits. His friends state that it is his intention to
resume command of his corps within a fortnight.

Officers
recently arrived in Washington from the front report that no movement
whatever has taken place in either General Meade’s or General Lee’s
army beyond the occasional skirmishing in which the cavalry are daily
engaged. The position of both armies is unchanged.

The
practice of desertion by substitutes under the draft has become so
prevalent that hereafter, the extreme penalty of martial law will be
awarded to such delinquents as may be recaptured, and extraordinary
efforts made to effect that object.

The
miners in the coal regions of Pennsylvania are receiving the
extraordinary pay of $90 to $125 per month, not working over eight hours
of the day.

WEDNESDAYAUGUST 26, 1863THE
BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER

The
glorious intelligence of the fall of Fort Sumter is announced on the
authority of the Richmond papers of Monday, which state that the fort
was surrendered on Sunday, 23d. On Saturday, according to the rebel
dispatches, 904 shots were fired at Sumter, of which 419 struck. The
guns of the fort were all dismounted, and the walls sadly broken down,
so that the work must be little better than a ruin. The Richmond Examiner
has a Charleston dispatch stating that Gen. Gilmore opened fire on the
city at midnight on Sunday. Non-combatants were fast leaving the doomed
city. A Washington dispatch states that the government is in possession
of no information relating to the surrender, and traces the many reports
current to the Richmond papers. But there can be little doubt, we think,
of the truth of the report. The arrival of the Arago,
which was to leave Charleston on Monday, will now be hourly looked for
with anxious interest.

•••••

Petroleum.—The
article of petroleum, or coal oil, is assuming a great importance in the
commerce of this country. The wells from which it is obtained, either by
pumping or spontaneous flow, furnish a most enormous quantity at a very
moderate cost, even including the transportation to the seaboard. Some
of the wells which contributed largely at first have given out, but
others are added as new fields are discovered, so that the production is
still on the increase.

The
low prices at which this oil was at first sold opened for it a ready
market in Europe, and did more for its introduction than could have been
accomplished by any formal introduction and recommendation.

Few
persons not brought in contact with the business have any idea of its
magnitude; and we propose to aid a little in their effort to comprehend
it by a few plain statistics.

The
shipments of petroleum from New York to foreign ports since January 1st
have reached thirteen and a half million gallons, valued at five million
dollars. The shipments from Philadelphia for the same period have been
about four million gallons, valued at one million dollars (more of the
crude being shipped thence); from Boston, one and a half million
gallons; from Baltimore, three-fourths of a million gallons; making from
these four ports a total shipment, in less than eight months, of about
twenty million gallons, valued at nearly six million dollars. There is a
paper published at Philadelphia, and exceedingly well conducted, which
is devoted exclusively to the exposition of this trade.–New
York Journal of Commerce, Aug. 25.

•••••

From
San Francisco and the Sandwich Islands.

San
Francisco, Aug. 23.–The steamer Oregon has arrived from
the northwestern parts of Mexico, bringing $114,000 in treasure and 250
packages of specimen ores from the mines of Sonora and Sinaloa. The
various California mining companies engaged in developing the silver
mines were in good spirits at their prospects.

Sandwich
Island dates of July 25 are received. The news is unimportant. The
number of foreign vessels which had arrived at Honolulu during the first
half of the present year is less by half than during the corresponding
period of last year.

There
was a great scarcity of laborers for the sugar plantations, and parties
were earnestly urging the Government authorities to import coolies from
Polynesia. The population of the islands is decreasing more rapidly than
at any former period. It is now estimated that they contain only about
66,000 inhabitants.

An
Interesting Document.[From
the Detroit Advertiser, August 13.]

The
following interesting document, now in the possession of an officer of
the Ninth Michigan Infantry, was found recently at Winchester, Tenn.,
having been in the possession of the family of Mr. Turney, former United
States Senator from Tennessee. The agreement is in his handwriting. The
signatures are all autographs:

“We
will avail ourselves of any and every means, which a majority of those
signing this paper may determine, to prevent the admission of California
as a State unless her southern boundary be reduced to 36 deg., 30 min.,
and, if California be admitted with the boundaries prescribed, that such
admission be allowed only after the people of California shall have
assented thereto. This admission may be allowed, if necessary, by a
proclamation of the President.

On
the back of this paper was endorsed the following, in Mr. Turney’s
handwriting:

“August–Mr.
Soule moved that we resist by all parliamentary means the passage of the
bill; and the vote stood as follows: for the motion were Messrs. Davis,
Turney, Soule, Morton, Yulee–5; against it were Messrs. Barnwell,
Butler, Mason, Hunter, Atchison–5. Lost by a tie vote.”

The
reader familiar with the debates of that day will recall the
circumstances under which the above pledge was probably made. The
Southern leaders, as is well known, were opposed to the admission of
California as a free State, contending that it would break the balance
of power which had so carefully been maintained in keeping the number of
free and slave States equal, and thus endanger the rights of the South.
It became apparent, however, that California could not be kept out of
the Union, and that it must come in as a free State. An effort was made
by the amendment of Senator Foote of Mississippi, to fix the southern
boundary of that State on the line of 36 deg., 30 min., with the
intention of organizing the Territory of Colorado south of that line,
and subsequently bringing this in as a slave State. The above secret
agreement shows how clearly the leading Southern men saw that freedom
was getting the advantage, and how desperately they were prepared to
resist. As is well known, they utterly failed. We should say that Mr.
Foote was willing the State should be admitted with the boundaries she
presented, and the division made afterwards. Mr. Davis opposed this, and
advocated the division before the admission, contending that after
admission the whole territory would come under the operation of the
Wilmot proviso. It will be seen that Foote’s name is not appended to
the above. This secret agreement is now doubtless brought to light for
the first time.

THURSDAYAUGUST 27,
1863THE
ST. ALBANS DAILY MESSENGER (VT)

Signs
of Peace in North Carolina.

The
most significant sign of returning peace that has appeared of late–or
even since the Slaveholders’ Rebellion broke out–is the publication
of a letter in the Raleigh Standard, which has recently been referred to
in telegraphic dispatches. The letter is said to be the joint production
of Hon. R. S. Donnell, formerly member of Congress from the 2d district
of North Carolina, now speaker of the House of Commons of that state,
and Hon. F. B. Satterthwaite, the president of the governor’s council
of that state, and published with the approval of Gov. Vance. It may
therefore be taken to represent the opinions of the executive of the
state, and of the most influential classes, and may be considered as a
semi-official declaration of the opinions and feelings of the state. In
this view it is of the highest significance.

The
letter arraigns the secession leaders for commencing the war upon
insufficient grounds, and charges them with having involved the South in
its difficulties against the reason and convictions of the southern
people. It also acknowledges that there is no reason to complain of the
way in which the United States government has prosecuted the war, and
closes by declaring that a peace on the basis of division is now
impossible. North Carolina is ready for peace on any other honorable
terms, and suggests a general convention of the states as a means of
reaching a basis of settlement. The letter opens with a history of the
means used by the southern conspirators to promote secession, and says
that if the South had labored under any real grievance, it should first
have demanded redress, and if refused, should have fought for its rights
in the Union. But the leaders were bent on war, and assured the southern
people that it should be a short war, that England and France would
assist, that all the slave states except Delaware would join the
confederacy, and that it would soon become the most wealthy and powerful
of nations. How these promises have failed of realization the letter
proceeds to show:

“So
far from the wars ending in six months, as they said it would, should it
ensue, it has already lasted more than two years, and if their policy is
to be pursued, it will last more than two years longer; and
notwithstanding their predictions, the Yankees have fought on many
occasions with a spirit and determination worthy of their ancestors of
the revolution–worthy of the descendants of those austere old Puritans
whose heroic spirit and religious zeal made Oliver Cromwell’s army the
terror of the civilized world, or those French Huguenots, who, thrice in
the sixteenth century, contended with heroic spirit and various fortunes
against all the genius of the house of Lorraine, and all the power of
the house of Valois. England and France have not recognized us–have
not raised the blockade–have not shown us any sympathy, nor is there
any probability that they ever will–and that cotton is not the king is
now universally acknowledged. And Maryland has not joined the
confederacy, nor has Kentucky or Missouri ever really been with us.
Slavery has not only not been perpetuated in the states, nor extended
into the territories, but Missouri has passed an act of emancipation,
and Maryland is ready to do so rather than give up her place in the
Union, and the best hope of obtaining one foot of the territories for
the purpose of extending slavery has departed from the confederacy
forever. The grievances caused by the failure of some of the northern
states to execute the fugitive slave law have not only been remedied,
but more slaves have been lost to the south forever since secession was
inaugurated, than would have escaped from their masters in the Union in
five centuries. And how have they kept their promise that they would
respect the sovereignty and rights of the states? Whatever the
government may be in theory, in fact we are a grand military
consolidation, which almost entirely ignores the existence of the
states, and disregards the decisions of their highest judicial
tribunals. The great central despotism at Washington, as they were
pleased to call it, was, at any time previous to the commencement of the
secession movement, and even for some time after it had commenced, a
most mild and beneficent government, compared with the central despotism
at Richmond under which we are now living.

“Instead
of an early and permanent establishment of the wealthiest and best
government in the world, with unbounded credit, what have we got? In
spite of all the victories which they profess to have obtained over the
Yankees, they have lost the states of Mississippi and Tennessee, and in
my humble opinion have lost them forever; and in all probability,
Alabama will soon be added to the number. This will leave to the
confederacy but five states out of the original thirteen and of these
five the Yankees have possession of many of the most important points,
and one-third of their territory. ->

So
far, the Yankees have never failed to hold every place of importance which
they have taken, and present indications are that Charleston will soon be
added to the number. The campaign of Gen. Lee into Pennsylvania has
undoubtedly proved a failure, and with it the last hope of conquering a
peace by a successful invasion of the enemy’s country. Our army has
certainly been very much weakened and dispirited y this failure and the fall
of Vicksburg, and how long even Richmond will be safe, no one can tell. As
the Richmond Enquirer said some time ago, ‘They are slowly but surely
gaining upon us, acre by acre, mile by mile,’ and unless Providence
interposes in our behalf–of which I see no indications–we will, at no
great distance of time, be a subjugated people.” . . .

•••••

The
Canadians Alarmed.

Mr.
Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a Canadian, has written a letter to the Montreal
Gazette, in which, after a long preamble on the necessity of vigilance, he
asks if the condition of Canada at this time is critical, and if her
statesmen are on the lookout for possible contingencies. He desires to know
if England would “stand by Canada should the worse come to the worst.”
These questions are to be called up before the Canadian Parliament, which
meets on Thursday next. He is afraid that a lack of vigilance would lay
Canada “prostrate at the feet of the Northern Americans before 1864 is
half past.” He speaks of the haste shown in the completion, by our
government, of Fort Montgomery at Rouse’s point, which will hold supplies
for 100,000 men, and has barrack accommodations for 5000.

The
plan of invasion, which he has upon “no doubtful information,” is to
march an army of 100,000 men up the Montreal district “to cut the
connection between Upper and Lower Canada, not to meddle in local affairs,
but to enforce the separation by the mere fact of its presence.” He wants
the members of Parliament on the way to Quebec to stop and look at the
fortifications. He thinks that it is for the interest of England to help
Canada in an emergency, for the short route to China and the Indies lies
through her territory. For himself, he does not believe that England would
help, and hence he counsels preparation.

•••••

Southern
Ladies.—The Union officers and soldiers have had their estimate
of the ladies of the South considerably taken down by what they have seen of
them. A recent letter from an officer of our army in the southwest draws
this picture of the southern ladies:

“I
have talked with a great many of the women who came to Rousseau for their
rations, and find them in most cases indifferent to the return of their
liege lords. There is a startling amount of immorality among them. In their
habits, such as smoking, chewing and ‘dipping,’ they are most
disgusting. I was sitting in the tent of Capt. Williams, at Rousseau’s a
day or two since, admiring the delicate, well-turned features of a woman
who, had she been educated, would have been thought beautiful, and was about
to express some such idea to Captain Williams, when she turned her head to
one side and, with the air and appearance of a practiced chewer,
‘spirited’ a stream of saliva from her thin lips, and then, throwing
away the tobacco she had been chewing, took from her pocket a small phial of
snuff, and with a spoon shaped bit of wood filled her mouth with the filthy
drug. ‘Major, allow me,’ said another young and beautiful damsel to a
friend of mine who had just filled his pipe. At the same time she took a cob
pipe from her pocket and filled it with the major’s strong smoking
tobacco, and puffed away with the most perfect, but by no means charming,
nonchalance. The ignorance of these people is as disgusting as their
manners.I am told by some
members of the Christian Commission that they have ten times the number of
applications from slaves for reading matter, primers, &c., than they
have from the white citizens. At the headquarters of Gen. Cowan, at
Rousseau, rations are issued to 235 persons daily, and the picture I have
drawn of them will apply to all I have seen in this vicinity. I have seen no
better class of chivalry yet. I suppose and hope they have gone South.”

FRIDAYAUGUST 28,
1863THE
CALEDONIAN (VT)

Hip, Hip Hurrah!

We
have splendid news from Charleston. Sumter has again fallen, this time
having surrendered to the Federal guns under Gen. Gilmore. Our
information is not as full as we wish it was. The dispatch states that
Sumter has surrendered and that Charleston is being shelled. This would
indicate a speedy solution of the question who will occupy Charleston.
At any rate we shall look for its surrender in season to vote on next
Tuesday; but should it not come then we are sure it will soon after. It
is two years and four months since the stars and stripes were lowered on
Sumter’s flag-staff–they are now raised again. Let us thank God and
take courage.

We
have the most exciting news from Kansas. It seems a band of Guerrillas
from Missouri, under the famous Quantrell, invaded the state on Thursday
night, surrounded the city of Lawrence, and after pillaging the stores
of everything they wanted, and shooting large numbers of citizens, set
fire to the place. The excitement throughout the state was intense.
Troops had been sent in pursuit of the marauders, but with little
prospect of intercepting them.

Late
accounts from Kansas represent the recent outrage at Lawrence as a most
horrible piece of work. The list of killed and wounded citizens is said
to number 180, the majority of whom were killed outright. Among those
killed were the Mayor and his son, and a number of other prominent
citizens–all shot down in their own houses, in the midst of their
families. Pillage and murder has not before during the war been carried
to such a fearful extent. Still later intelligence reports Quantrell
overtaken and 60 or 70 of his men killed and much of the plunder
recovered. We hope this is true. This outrage on Lawrence is but another
illustration of the beauties of slavery and its twin brother, secession.

Refugees
from Richmond report a guard about Jeff Davis’ home to prevent him
from escaping from the confederacy. (More likely to prevent the men he
has deluded from cutting his throat.) They also report great
consternation over the expected capture of Charleston. It will be well
to remember that deserters and refugees deal largely in
“blatherskite.”

Thomas
D’Arcy McGee, who appears to be constitutionally an agitator, has
occasioned no little excitement throughout the Canadas, by predicting a
scheme of invasion on the part of the United States. He points with
apprehension to the fort at Rousse’s Point, and gets himself–and his
brother Canucks–into a great frenzy about the Yankees. McGee should
have a guardian.

The
draft has progressed quietly in New York city the week past. Many
prominent men have been hit. There is quite an army of Union troops in
the city, and any attempt at rioting would be fatal to those engaged;
and as far as is known there is no disposition to resist the laws.

Gen.
Rosecrans attacked Chattanooga, Tenn., on the 21st inst., and made a
marked impression on the place with his effective batteries. The town is
well fortified and our progress will be slow, but its eventual downfall
is certain.

The Draft–Conscripts–Substitutes.

The
draft has been sufficiently tried in several of the states so that now
some approximate calculations can be made respecting its results as
relates to the filling up of our armies in the field. The impression is
gaining ground that for army purposes the draft has and will prove a
failure. It has evidently fallen short of the expectations of the
government and of the men who made the conscript law.

It
is believed that of the whole number of conscripts drawn in the free
states not over 75,000 will be accepted, including the substitutes.
Although this is probably far behind the expectations of the government
at the outset, yet if these 75,000 were reliable men they would go far
towards filling up the thinned ranks of the regiments now in the field.
But the testimony of those who have to do with the substitutes represent
them as anything but reliable. Rev. Sam’l Fisk writes that $21,000
worth of these substitutes deserted from the army near Elk Run, Va., in
the three days previous to Aug. 17. He says rather than send such a
class of criminals to the army as a large majority of the substitutes
thus far have been, a better plan would be, as soon as the substitutes
are regularly accepted and mustered into the United States service, to
send them to the several state penitentiaries for three years or during
the war, as they could be guarded more cheaply and safely there than
here, and our army will be likely to have as much other business on hand
as we can attend to, without the extra duty of guarding their criminals.
He entreats the conscripts hereafter to give their $300 rather than send
substitutes that they won’t “warrant for one year,” as the money
can’t damage the country, but every murderer and rioter sent to the
army does.

If
the government had foreseen the effect of a draft very likely it would
have filled up the armies by volunteering; bit the experiment had never
been proved and the feeling was quite general that a draft should be
made as an easier and more equitable method of raising men. And the
democratic presses and politicians were as eager to have a conscription
law as those of any party; and even Seymour was elected governor of New
York on the cry raised for a “more vigorous prosecution of the war.”
That is what loyal men still insist upon. The government is not to blame
if the draft proves an entire failure. We are all in the ship together,
and if we would weather the storm we must all stand by to lend a helping
hand while the storm lasts.

•••••

A Full Vote.

Every
voter owes next Tuesday to his country. Every vote cast for the Union
ticket is a vote against secession South and secret treason North. Every
vote cast for the Union ticket will have a silent but powerful influence
in aiding to crush this rebellion–particularly will this be true if
the vote is large and the majority overwhelming. The greater the
majority over copperheadism the greater the influence.

Loyal
men of Vermont! Maine and Massachusetts, and indeed the whole North, are
looking anxiously for your report next Tuesday. Let every man do his
duty.

SATURDAYAUGUST 29, 1863THE
BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER

Greek
Fire.[From
the New York Journal of Commerce, Aug. 28.]

General
Beauregard seems to have been suddenly and seriously affected by the
appearance in Charleston of the fiery messengers from Gen. Gilmore, and
so affected that it entirely escaped his memory that two years ago he
threw similar messengers into Sumter when Anderson and his brave band
were holding that fortress. Similar, we say, for it makes very little
difference whether the fire which is sent into a besieged place be in
the shape of red hot iron or burning mixtures. We cannot see the
difference between throwing red hot shot into Sumter and setting fire to
its wooden buildings, making that place a miniature hell for the brave
men who were in it, and throwing cold shot with fiery mixtures inside of
them to kindle flames in Beauregard’s quarters in the city of
Charleston. War has its horrors, and there are barbarities which are not
permitted in civilized warfare. But all nations, so far as we know, have
been in the habit of using weapons of this class down to the present
times. The British threw “stink balls” in the last war and in the
Crimean campaign–“villainous compounds” not unlike what Beauregard
complains of. Arrows and missiles charged with flames and fire have
always been used in sieges.

The
Greek fire of history was probably a compound of common sulphur and
pitch. The generic name of Greek fire has been given to all kinds of
incendiary compounds inclosed in shells and thrown into cities for the
purpose of firing them. There are several patents out for these
compounds, and the exact methods of mixing and using them are known only
to the inventors. But the basis of them all is said to be phosphorous
dissolved in bisulphide of carbon. The latter is a very curious liquid,
having all the apparent purity of distilled water, and a very high
retractive power, but evolving, on evaporation, or combustion, the
foulest stench known to chemical science–a science which positively
revels in nauseous odors. It has the extraordinary property of
dissolving phosphorous freely, and preserving it in a fluid state for
any length of time when kept from the air. The compound kindles at a
heat as low as that of phosphorous alone. When the shell, charged with
this “villainous mixture,” explodes by percussion or otherwise, the
dissolved phosphorous is set on fire and scattered far and wide.
Wherever it strikes, it burns for a long time with an almost
inextinguishable flame, and ignites all combustible materials that it
touches. At the same time, the bisulphide of carbon throws out its
abominable odors, and assists­­­ in keeping soldiers at a respectable
distance.

•••••

Morris
Island, S. C., Aug. 24, 1863.

There
is little to note concerning the operations of yesterday. Though Fort
Sumter has been rendered useless for defence, the big guns in our
batteries were deliberately engaged in rounding off its remaining angles
and putting on the finishing touches of its destruction.

That
Battery Wagner is a hard nut to crack must by this time be apparent to
the people of the North. It is not yet in our possession, though foot by
foot and yard by yard our brave soldiers are digging their way into it.
During the bombardment of seven days not a moment has been lost in the
work before Fort Wagner. With its supplies cut off and our men wielding
the pickaxe and the spade under its very parapet, the prospect of its
early transfer to federal ownership daily brightens. The destruction of
Sumter relieves guns and batteries which may now be otherwise employed.
That Wagner is destined to feel their power and yield before them is
considered certain.->

The
rebel warrior who, with twenty thousand men, drove seventy men out of
Sumter some eight and twenty months ago, is terribly incensed at General
Gilmore’s “style.” He has, if I am rightly informed, allowed
himself to be betrayed into all sorts of angry expressions, and
threatens terrible retaliation. He calls Gilmore a barbarian. He
protests in the name of civilization and Christianity against the
latter’s proceedings. He forgets the little affair which occurred on
this island when he fired on the flag of his country and loosed upon the
nation all the horrors of civil war. Let him protest. He may get as mad
as he pleases, and tear his hair in his rage if he wants to. Hard words
are not going to drive us away. Where bullets and batteries have failed,
horrible threats will not be likely to deter us.

That
Gen. Gilmore means business is evident from the fact that the “Swamp
Angel” was again trained upon the city last night, and several of her
messengers waited upon its inhabitants, if any yet remain. The guns of
the James Island batteries continued to play upon this pet piece of ours
with great animation all night, but without damage as far as I can
learn. Think of a shell flying noiselessly through four or five miles of
space, dropping suddenly among the sleepy people, exploding as it
strikes, and as it explodes, scattering a seething, liquid flame which
no water will extinguish, and you may perhaps imagine the consternation
which these “errand runners” produce. Fly on, ye winged messengers!
Search out the hiding places of traitors, and in all the nests they have
builded scatter destruction and death.

•••••

A
Stevenson, Ala., dispatch dated the 27th says a part of Gen. Wilder’s
force met thirty rebels at Hanover on that day, killed three and
captured two. The latter state that the Chattanooga Rebel
admits the fall of Charleston, also that Lee has been defeated by
General Meade. It also learns that General Burnside’s advance had
reached Kingston on Tuesday and after a short engagement had whipped
Forrest. Bragg’s army is reported as moving towards Atlanta.

•••••

According
to the Rochester (N. Y.) Union,
there has been recently an active demand in Canada for steamers to be
used in running the blockade. Parties have purchased all the craft they
could get and are looking for more. The Bowmanville,
Arabian and Clyde, all of the Lake Ontario fleet, are now understood to be
somewhere in salt water, in the hands of blockade runners. An offer of
$35,000 was recently made for the steamer Zimmermann,
which was burned at Niagara, but it was not accepted. The agents of the
blockade runners, who are looking for steamers, the Union thinks, must be desperate, and quite willing to take great
risks of navigation as well as of capture, or they would not purchase
such craft as they do. They have bought lake steamers wholly unfitted to
navigate those waters, much less the ocean.

1 See
the entry from the Hartford Daily
Courant of 18 August 1863, “Highly Important from North Carolina:
Rebel Troops Take the Oath of Allegiance;” this 23 August article is
in reaction to the earlier piece.

2The
fertility of the South was never an issue; her insufficient and
inefficient railroad network was simply incapable of moving supplies
where they were most needed. Lack of salt to preserve food was also a
critical weakness.

3Brigadier-General
William Barksdale was mortally wounded on 2 July 1863 at Gettysburg; he
died the following day in a Union field hospital. Reference.